Caroline Adams Miller

Goal-setting is a basic business fundamental. Everyone knows how. Or do they? Everyone uses metrics but the world is still full of missed goals, failed objectives, and tarnished brand names. That’s because we’ve been using a goal-setting approach based on thin air, not science.

What could your team achieve by using a proven, research-based approach to setting and achieving goals? Effectively setting goals can leapfrog you ahead of your competitors. The right goals help you adapt more quickly to a changing environment and help ensure success in new markets.

Caroline Adams Miller is a renowned thought leader on the transformational power of setting the right goals at the right time. She studied the science behind successful goal setting at the University of Pennsylvania, where she received a Masters in Applied Positive Psychology. Caroline uses riveting storytelling, her infectious enthusiasm, and science-based techniques to empower your audience to set meaningful goals—and achieve them!

In this fast-paced and energizing talk, your audience learns practical steps to improve their goal setting, including:
• Build on a foundation of happiness; first we’re happy, then we’re successful.
• Practice the 6 Keys to Effective Goal Setting.
• Understand the difference between Learning Goals and Performance Goals; when to use each, and when to blend them.
• Use Primes and Prompts to set you up for success and avoid the most common mistakes that derail progress.
• Establish accountability and build a culture of positive energizers.

Goal setting is essential for maximizing human performance. People who implement these proven goal-setting processes achieve the greatest successes of their careers and game-changing results.

FORMAT: 45-60 minutes keynote. Half and full day workshops are available, as well.

IDEAL AUDIENCE: Business leaders, sales managers, anyone who is required to create and accomplish goals in their job. Specific audiences have included: sales teams; multi-level marketing distributors; professionals such as lawyers, financial advisors, and accountants; athletic groups; and entrepreneurs.

Harnessing Passion, Perseverance and Purpose for Success

“I don’t know anybody who has thought more than Caroline Miller about how to apply the scientific research on grit and achievement to our own lives.” —Dr. Angela Duckworth, winner of the MacArthur Genius Grant for her research on grit

In these times of greater complexity, ever-increasing regulation and stiff global competition, organizations need people who can weather challenges, thrive emotionally and be productive. These are people who are not simply resilient, they are the ones who have combined passion, persistence and purpose to embody authentic grit. Grit is called “the secret to success” because it is a necessary ingredient in the accomplishment of long-term goals but how do people cultivate this good grit?

Caroline Adams Miller has focused on how to apply the research of Dr. Angela Duckworth on grit in pioneering ways to help individuals, teams and organizations cultivate and hire for that important quality.

In this presentation, Caroline shares timely examples, stories and research-based insights that your audience can use immediately to:

• Cultivate authentic grit to stay resilient in the face of difficulties

• Recognize the difference between good and bad grit, like selfie grit and stupid grit, and how good grit evokes “the awethentic effect” in others

• Develop practical strategies that undergird grit, such as defining purpose, developing “harmonious” passion, creating intrinsic motivation, and fostering a “growth” mindset

• Create a culture of grit that encourages people to put forth their best efforts in a way that inspires others to do the same

• Spot grit in others and hire for grit

The Revolutionary BRIDGE Method That Gets Results

The pandemic has created upheavals in our businesses and the way we set, pursue and achieve goals. Old ways of measurement and motivation, like SMART goals and OKRs, are increasingly being replaced by more cutting-edge, scientific approaches that give workers better tools to flourish, focus and create engagement. This includes knowing how to separate learning goals from performance goals, which can help organizations avoid some of the biggest disasters in business history, such as Boeing’s 737 Max and Volkswagen’s defeat device for diesel engines.

One recent survey found that the most resilient organizations during crises are those that have clear expectations, ways to measure progress, and the resources to accomplish them. Caroline Miller’s revolutionary BRIDGE methodology replaces some of the most common, but outdated, approaches that lack the cutting-edge research on flourishing interventions, grit, goal setting theory, character strengths, motivation, gender differences and psychological safety. When goals are set correctly, the results include greater worker engagement, a flourishing workplace, more hope and increased productivity.

In this program, you’ll learn to:

• Use the new BRIDGE methodology – brainstorming, relationships, investments, decisions, grit and excellence – to improve your pursuit of goal accomplishment and establish more effective pathways to success

• Understand the difference between learning goals and performance goals from Locke & Latham’s goal setting theory – when to use each, when to blend them, and why mixing them up can lead to business catastrophes

• Identify each individual’s top character strengths so that they can be at their best, while also learning how to avoid overusing them to create weaknesses

• Establish accountability and build a culture of positive energizers

This topic can be personalized in many ways, including half-day, full-day and multi-day workshops and retreats. It can also be focused in gender-specific ways and is appropriate for mixed audiences, too.

Since the beginning of the global pandemic, many organizations have had to learn how to lead their employees in new and inspirational ways.

Old ways of doing business have been replaced by virtual meetings, innovation has replaced business-as-usual, and how we flourish individually and collectively has an even greater impact than we may have previously known. What was once predictable is now uncertain, which is why the ability to create success in these changed conditions is among the top superpowers leaders and organizations can acquire.

Caroline Adams Miller, MAPP, PCC is one of the leading authorities on the science of goal setting, its connection to emotional flourishing, and the cultivation of good grit to accomplish hard goals.

These topics are of paramount importance in today’s world, and especially in the workplace. Her book Creating Your Best Life has been a continuous bestseller at the top of recommended goal setting books for more than a decade, and was recently reissued so that its global audience can continue to have access to the concepts. She has also created an evidence-based BRIDGE framework that can guide leaders and organizations in taking a fresh look at what they need to accomplish, how they will get there, and what they must know in order to elicit the best efforts from themselves, their teams, and their employees.

Caroline uses her custom-designed virtual keynotes and workshops as platforms to inspire and empower her audiences to flourish and accomplish their goals by using good grit.

Caroline’s experience includes delivering live and prerecorded keynotes, interactive workshops, university and business school lectures, moderated Q & A’s, interviews, webinars, and panel discussions. All of her virtual programs offer insightful scientific research, relatable examples, and powerful stories that leave her audiences more knowledgeable, entertained and armed with practical takeaways.

Leadership Strategies that Foster a World of Gritty Women

In today’s chaotic world, and particularly as the result of the pandemic, which has been dubbed a “shecession,” women are doing more than they ever have before. And because women are often so busy meeting everyone else’s expectations, their own professional and personal goals get left behind. In one of her most popular presentations, Caroline inspires women to become their authentic, ideal selves—not just who they feel they “ought” to be—and provides proven techniques to help them thrive and cultivate the passion, persistence, humility, and courage to achieve their toughest goals.

In this session, female leaders learn practical steps to create their best self in and out of the office, including how to:

• Identify and use their character strengths to flourish
• Build a resilient mindset
• Add a “believe and achieve” mindset to women’s “tend and befriend” behavior
• Use the new science-based approach and BRIDGE methodology to set goals and pursue them for successful outcomes
• Cultivate a culture of positive energizers, including men who support women’s efforts
• Learn how “ampliship” can be the most beneficial approach to spreading positivity and impacting future generations of female leaders

A Revolutionary Approach to Game-Changing Results

The pandemic has created upheavals in our businesses. Old ways of measurement and motivation need to be replaced by cutting-edge and scientific approaches. While goal setting is a basic business fundamental, the timeline for reaching those goals has changed drastically and time is no longer a luxury.

What could your organization achieve by using a proven, research-based approach to setting and achieving goals? Effectively setting goals can leapfrog you ahead of your competitors and arm you with a critical superpower that will spell the difference between success and failure. A recent survey found that the most resilient organizations during crises are those that have clear expectations, ways to measure progress, and the resources to accomplish them. Building on her revolutionary BRIDGE method (brainstorming, relationships, investments, decisions, grit and excellence), Caroline shares her research on gender differences, resilience and grit, the impact of character strengths, goal setting theory, and cultural differences. This in turn empowers teams to have clear expectations, accurately measure progress and provides the resources to accomplish successful outcomes.